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Friday, January 27, 2017

My final northern journey is Victoria, British Columbia to visit the city/area and to meet up with our cousin who lives there.

Thanks for following my northern travels as I spend the weekend in Victoria. In the last week I have been to Mexico to Canada.

My hint of where I was going: 54° 40' or Fight is a bit of history about the original Oregon Territory. This was before the state of Washington, that set the boundary with Canada, during the great manifest destiny of the growing United States.

Although I didn't get to the actual boundary named for the slogan it was the only thing I could think of for a hint.

What a treat this Saturday morning here at Seattle Pier 69 where we get the Victoria Clipper to Victoria

Above is what our modest comfortable ferry looks like.

We leave the City of Seattle behind for a couple days as we depart for Canada and more adventures.

I contacted cousin Graeme, who lives in the Victoria area and we agreed to meet for lunch at Spinnakers Gastro Brewpub it is the oldest legal brewery in Canada I am told.

There was an ocean walking path next to the brewery. Graeme met us as well as his lovely wife and son and daughter. I really appreciated the opportunity to meet them for lunch overlooking the harbor.

After a nice lunch it was our opportunity to follow Graeme to his business venture, the Victoria Caledonian Brewery and Distillery in the neighboring town of Saanish.

The M in the middle of the brewery insignia is for MacAloney Distillers as the parent company for Victoria Caledonian Brewery and Distillery. http://macaloneydistillers.com/

Brent and I enjoyed the beer samples before a personal tour from Graeme.

Above Graeme and Brent discuss beer making. Brent being a home brewer and Graeme had a lot to share.

It takes years to get aged whisky so the beer making allows for dual usage for both productions (brewing & distilling).

Graeme and I talk genealogy from our last meeting in Parrsboro, NS in November. Graeme and I matched on the male Y-111 chromosome test and are hoping other lines of MacAloney's and related spelling get tested so we can continue to fit the pieces together of our ties to the Scottish Cameron Clan.

Aging whisky. After our tour it was time to learn about whisky and do some tasting.

These two stills are steam heated to make the finished product. They are made of copper that is hand tooled to the finish design.

The stills are a showpiece of handtooled craftmanship.

What an excellent afternoon spent with Graeme and his staff to gain a new appreciation for Scottish whisky that I knew nothing about.

About Me

I retired from as
Fire Chief and Emergency Management Director for the Town of Westminster in
2014.Growing up I became an on-call
firefighter and continued in the Fire Department while I kept a full-time
career in high tech, eventually becoming the full-time Fire Chief in 1998, with
the downturn in the tech sector.

I have been
fortunate to have had many wonderful experiences working in the private sector
before my full-time employment before becoming Fire Chief/EMD. This
included being an Electronic Technician, and Manufacturing engineer for Bowmar/ALI,
Inc. Leominster/Acton MA, National Service Manager for Bruel and Kjaer
Instruments, Inc., Marlborough, MA, and Engineering Coordinator,
Manufacturing Project Manager, Group Manager, and Program Manager for Digital
Equipment Corporation/Compaq Computer Corporation, various locations in MA&
NH.

I continue to
teach Fire Science Degree Programs at Mount Wachusett Community College,
Gardner, MA, where I have been an Adjunct Professor since 2000.

I have received
degrees at the following institutions:

Lesley College; Masters of
Science in Management, January 1984

Fitchburg State College; Bachelor of Science in History, June 1979

Mount
Wachusett Community College; Associate in Electronic Engineering, June 1977.